Changing Minds
by TheDarkRose22
Summary: Avery Walsh, a bad ass, almost graduated college student who just so happens to be Shane Walsh's sister, and Cyanne Henson, Avery's also almost graduated best friend. They are on a mission to survive the end of the world. After finding the Walking Dead group, Avery becomes smitten with a very sexy red neck. Daryl/OC eventually Rick/OC. Rated for later chapters(c'mon, Daryl, not M?)
1. Chapter 1

"_Sometimes even to live is an act of courage."  
― Lucius Annaeus Seneca_

* * *

_Two households, both alike in dignity_

_(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene),_

_From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,_

_Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean._

_From forth the fatal loins of these two foes_

_A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,_

_Whose misadventured piteous overthrows_

_Doth with their death bury their parents' strife._

_The fearful passage of their death-marked love_

_And the continuance of their parents' rage,_

_Which, but their children's end, naught could remove,_

_Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage-_

_The which, if you with patient ears attend,_

_What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend._

_Romeo and Juliet_. The only book I carry with me on this forsaken journey to survive the unsurvivable. To pursue the unpursuable. To live in the most unlivable. To care for one other person after the world ends. This is where my story starts, a long road to nothingness, after the world has ended and very few people that walk are alive. This is when most people stop trying to live, but I haven't stopped, because I have hope. I have hope that somewhere out there, there is a cure.

My story starts with, well, me. Avery Walsh, age twenty-seven. Dark brown hair that falls to the small of my back. Dark brown eyes that have lost the twinkle that my brother teased me about as children. Pale white skin that is only just slightly tan from being born in King County, Georgia. Average height, five-feet seven-inches. Skinny, mostly from the fact that the person I'm traveling with and I don't even have enough food to go around the both of us.

This friend, her name is Cyanne Henson. You could say best friends since we first started talking, high-school, freshmen year. She has lighter brown hair, a little bit longer then her shoulders. Pretty greenish-blue eyes and white skin, but tanner then mine. We went to the same college. Berkeley College, New York City, New York. That's where this whole thing started, the end of the world mentioned earlier. Cyanne and I, we've been on the run ever since New York got run over with, dare I say it, zombies. It may not be believed by the reader, but I can assure you, this is the truth. Now, we don't call them zombies. We call them Jerry's. It just makes it sound so much less intimidating.

Besides the lovely zombie invasion, we left "The Big Apple" to find my brother, Shane Walsh. Just about the only man I've ever known to hold off a full sized angry, hungry pit bull and give me a cup of pudding... at the age of twelve. He was the sheriff's deputy, last I saw him. Same with his childhood best friend, Rick Grimes, one of the many men I had had a crush on in my younger days. I got over that as soon as I met Lori, his fiancé that had had kept quiet about until four weeks before the wedding. No hard feelings for Lori, though. She became a great friend of mine. And then they had their son, Carl, one of the cutest boys on this godforsaken planet.

I have kept up hope that they are alive, and that's why we're going to Atlanta. Cyanne and I have heard it's a safe haven, the last. If anywhere my brother would go, it would be to a safe place. Those are just rumors, but it's the only thing we have left. The CDC in Atlanta. Hopefully, there will be people there who will help us and keep us safe. That's our hope. If that doesn't work out, well then hell, we might as well shoot ourselves on the spot.

On with the story. At the time, I am walking ahead, in the dark, around two in the morning... during a zombie apocalypse... scouting out for any cars that we could use, considering that no one else is going to miss them. We just ran out of fuel in our last car, and we need another one. It's easier then finding gas at a gas station. I can feel my scabbard tapping slightly against my leg, with a slight clang from the sword it's carrying. It hangs on tightly to my hip, looped in with my belt. My hand brushes against hilt of my sword while I hold on tightly with my right to a pistol.

Finally, something I'm looking for. A pickup, Ford F-250, to be exact. Trucks are always the best, being able to go over rough terrain, carrying lots of items, and I love anything to do with pickup trucks. It's black, which is always good if you don't want to get noticed, and we definitely don't. I walk around the truck, checking for jerry's. I try the door handle, opening it easily. The key is still in the ignition. Whoever had this left in a hurry.

I sit in the seat and turn the key. The engine stalls but after a few times it roars to life. I turn it off almost immediately. I get out quickly and close the door, no longer caring about being loud. The truck is louder then I thought it was going to be. I sprint, as fast as I can, going in the direction of where Cyanne was left. I can see her running towards me, her hair tied up in a messy bun on the top of her head. The pistol in her hand swinging at her side. The machete tied to her hip swinging. She greets me with an out of breath nod and we run, fast, towards the truck. No jerry's yet.

Something moaning pops out from the underbrush that lines either side of the highway. I seem to have spoken to soon. In a flash of silver, blood splatters and half a skull lands in front of me. We don't stop, I just nimbly hop over the skull half and run even faster, if possible, towards the truck. It just can't seem to come any closer, but thankfully, I reach forward, my hand no longer groping for open air. I never thought I could feel so much joy over feeling the touch of cold metal against my skin. I fling the car door open and shove myself against the seat, slamming the door just as quickly as it opened. Seconds later, I see Cyanne open the door and close it even quicker then myself. She screams at me to turn the truck on. I swiftly move my hand to the key and turn it, the purr of the engine making all my nerves melt away.

Almost all of my nerves. I can hear heavy hands hitting against the back of the truck. I take the truck out of "park" and I shove my foot onto the gas petal. The squeal of the tires tells me that's I'm going fast. There are slams and bumps as some Jerry's hit the sides and front of our speeding pickup truck. Our bodies are jostled side-to-side as I swerve, still speeding.

"M'kay," Cyanne laughs, slightly hysterically, "I think we're in the clear." She claps a hand on my arm and I let out a shout of pure excitement.

"Yes," I scream, "Cyanne, we're still damn alive!" I laugh and drive down the now empty highway.

**18 HOURS LATER**

We find our way into the edge of Georgia, and we come into sights with the CDC. A giant of a building, but it has an eerie feeling to it. The empty tanks and bodies all over the ground may have something to do with that.

I step out of the car, sword in hand, ready to kill anything that moans and walks on two legs... or... that could be taken the wrong way. Moving on! Cyanne steps out behind me with her over sized machete held at head height. We move forward cautiously.

There is some sort of shouting coming from the building, followed by banging. If I'm not mistaken, it's a group of people. A group of stupid-ass people at that. They're attracting more Jerry's then I can count, all coming towards us. I sheath my sword and pull out my pistol.

Out of nowhere, I can see a light pop out from the building. Someone on the inside opened the door. I am in shock for a moment. Then I hear a moaning and ungodly snarl come from behind me. I don't think. I can't pull, the trigger, so I slam my fist into the rotting face of a Jerry. My hand becomes covered in blood and cracked bones. The Jerry falls to the ground and I slam the heel of my boot into the same indent that my fist made, completing the deal.

"Run," I shout at Cyanne. I turn to look at her, but she's already on her way. I run after her, going fast, faster then what most people would call humanly, but you'd be surprised what a human being can do when their lives are on the line.

"Hold up," I can hear Cyanne scream, waving her arms in the air, machete swinging wildly, "C'mon! Don't close it yet!" Maybe the people turn around, maybe they don't. I can't tell if they hear us or not. The doors don't close. I finally am able to stop jumping over dead bodies, and I hit solid pavement. Cyanne right in front of me. We pass through the doors and I bump into something solid. I look up to see that familiar face and stupid "22" necklace.

"Shane?"

* * *

**Hey, so, I really hope you like this first chapter. I just needed to set up the two main characters. It's kind of fun writing this, to be honest. Now, in every chapter, there's going to be a quote in the beginning. Also, I've got this thing with using Polyvore, this awesome website. So, with that, Cyanne and Avery's outfits for... basically the whole season, are on my profile. I hope that you review this story, as that is always appreciated. Warning you before hand, these updates are going to be irregular. Maybe two on the same day, and then I won't write anything for a month. It just depends on my schedule. Can't wait to here what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

PREVIOUSLY ON CHANGING MINDS:

_"Hold up," I can hear Cyanne scream, waving her arms in the air, machete swinging wildly, "C'mon! Don't close it yet!" Maybe the people turn around, maybe they don't. I can't tell if they hear us or not. The doors don't close. I finally am able to stop jumping over dead bodies, and I hit solid pavement. Cyanne right in front of me. We pass through the doors and I bump into something solid. I look up to see that familiar face and stupid "22" necklace._

_ "Shane?"_

I see my older brothers confused face looking down at me. Slowly, I can see realization dawning on his face. I feel myself being pulled off the ground in a bone-crushing hug. Worriment clouds my mind as I realize my hand and foot are covered in Jerry blood and I am holding a pistol. I can hear moaning and banging on the doors from the Jerry's but I can hardly care. I finally have at least a piece of my family back.

"Avery," Shane whispers, "Christ, you're still alive."

"Yeah," I smile slightly, "I would be doing a lot better if my only brother wasn't crushing me to my early impending doom." I feel myself being set on the ground.

"Sorry," Shane chuckles. He grabs my shoulders and smiles, looking at me. He gets a concerned look on his face. I can hear laughing coming from behind me and I turn to see Cyanne happily being greeted by Lori and Rick. Carl looks confused by the whole business, but then again, he hasn't seen either of us in nearly four years. I smile at them and nod.

"What happened t' yer face?" A mans voice comes from behind me and I turn. The man is tall, muscular, and carrying a cross-bow. He has a tough looking face. Even from this distance, his bright blue eyes seem to be piercing into my skull. He must be talking about the scab of a long cut that runs along the right side of my face.

"A tree jumped in my way about a week ago, sadly abusing this wonderful face." The man glares at my sarcasm, but I hear what seems to be the sound of a little girl laughing. I look to the side of my and hiding slightly behind a grey, short-haired woman is a small dirty-blond haired girl. She has lots of freckles covering her nose. I smile and kneel to the hight of the girl.

"I'm Avery, Shane's little sister." I see a large smile light up on that cute girls face. "And what, may I ask, is your name?"

"I'm Sophia," she says shyly. I put a hand lightly on her shoulder.

"Sophia," I repeat, "that is just a beautiful name for an absolutely beautiful little girl." She giggles and I smile as sweetly as I can to her mother. She smiles back at me, thankful that I am kind, most likely different then how my brother has been acting. I turn slightly to Shane. "I kinda missed kids, ya know, even being the little buggers they are."

"Yeah," Shane snorts, "you were always the one who was best with little kids." I turn back around to Sophia and she gasps, hiding once again behind her mothers legs. She is looking at something behind me. I turn around to see a man holding a machine gun. _How the fuck did I miss that? _He's scraggly looking, wearing an extremely dirty t-shirt and some black sweat pants.

"Anybody infected," the man asks, sounding scared. I glance at Rick who is holding his rifle up, ready to shoot on the spot. The redneck, an Asian kid, a Black man, and an old man are also holding up their weapons as well. Somehow, I get the feeling that this man isn't going to kill any of us, unless he wants to get some more Jerry's around here.

"One of our group was," Rick shakily states, "he didn't make it." I let out a breath to stop myself from screaming at the man to just let us stay.

"Why are you here," the scraggly man asks, "what do you want?" _What do we want? Well, mother fucker, we want a place for the fucking children to know they're safe!_ I have to remind myself that Cyanne and I weren't even invited in. We just ran in. It's not my place or hers to say anything.

"A chance," Rick says, still having very shaky breathing patterns.

"That's asking an awful lot these days," the scraggly man cautiously moves forward. I roll my eyes.

"I know," Rick says, slowly gaining his authoritative voice again. There is a long pause in which the scraggly man looks around at the group.

"You all submit to a blood test," the man says, "that's the price of admission."

"We can do that," Rick says. The man puts his gun at his side. I look at everyone else and the people who have weapons have lowered them, at least slightly.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now," the scraggly man says, much less cautious, "once this door closes, it stays closed." The men of Rick's group and Cyanne and I all head out to grab our things. I see Shane glance at me, as if he wants to stop me. I glare at him, showing that I can handle myself. We run out and grab all of out things. As soon as we all get back in the Black man and the old man close the doors. They beep and a control panel turns from red to green.

"Vi, seal the main entrance," the scraggly man says into the control panel, "kill the power up here." I see thick metal doors closing and clanging when the get to the ground. The panel beeps and turns red once again. Rick sticks his hand out to shake the scraggly mans hand.

"Rick Grimes," he says. The scraggly man looks awkward, as if he hasn't had much human contact.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner," the scraggly man says. Where have I heard that name before? Edwin looks at me and glares, "who are you? From what I remember, you weren't with the rest of this group."

"I'm Avery Walsh," I gesture to myself, then I pat a hand on Cyannes passing shoulder, "this is Cyanne Henson. The man over there," I point to Shane, "is my older brother. We've been trying to find him for a while. We were just lucky enough to get here at the same time they did." I give him a smile, trying to be nice. He just walks off, leading us all to an elevator. I hesitate getting in, considering I'm not very fond of elevators. We all crowd in, me uncomfortably being placed in front of the redneck and behind Sophia, next to her mother. The redneck has a gun held up and keeps on shifting awkwardly behind me.

"Doctors always go around packin' heat like that," the redneck asks from behind me, talking about Jenner's gun.

"There were plenty left lying around," Jenner states, looking at the redneck and smirking, "I familiarized myself." He looks around at the group, smiling slightly, "but you look harmless enough. Except you." He looks at Carl jokingly. I bite my lip to keep back a giggle. "I'll have to keep my eye on you." Carl starts to smile. We finally get off, carrying all of our items down a long hallway.

"Are we underground," the mother of Sophia asks, looking slightly nervous.

"Are you claustrophobic," Jenner asks.

"A little," the gray-haired woman says.

"Try not to think about it," Jenner states. I smile as we head to a large room. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." A circle of overhead lights start up, revealing a room that has line after line of white computers. "Welcome to Zone 5."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the wait, but there's so much going on at school right now that I barely have time. So guys, I lied. Haha, there are not going to be any more quotes, I'm too lazy. But, I did find this really cool idea so what I'm going to do is for every chapter from now on I'm going to give a song that kind of represents the chapter. I really want to hear what you guys think so please review!**

_Broken Girl- Matthew West (Warning, Avery's going to go through some shit in this chapter... actually a lot. You find out a bit of her past and everything. Sorry for how long the chapter is, but I really hope you like this and the song!)_

PREVIOUSLY ON CHANGING MINDS:

_"Are we underground," the mother of Sophia asks, looking slightly nervous._

_ "Are you claustrophobic," Jenner asks._

_ "A little," the gray-haired woman says._

_ "Try not to think about it," Jenner states. I smile as we head to a large room. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." A circle of overhead lights start up, revealing a room that has line after line of white computers. "Welcome to Zone 5."_

"Where is everybody," Rick asks, "the other doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it," Jenner says. I stare at him. Damn, this poor man, left here all alone, "it's just me here."

"What about the person you were speakin' with," Lori asks, "Vi?"

"Vi, say hello to our guests," Jenner says, "tell them... welcome."

"Hello guests," the computer voice 'Vi' says, "welcome."

"I'm all that's left," Jenner sighs. You can see the look of dishevelment on everyone's faces. "I'm sorry." Jenner walks off and grabs syringes and needles. He leads the group to a sitting room. Everyone else has gone except the blond woman. Right now, a pretty blond woman maybe a bit older then me is getting her blood drawn.

"What's the point," she asks, "if we were infected, we'd all be running a fever."

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here," Jenner states, "let me just... at least be thorough." The syringe clicks and he gives a completely fake smile. "All done." A black woman helps the blond lady up and the blond woman stumbles a bit.

"Are you okay," Jenner asks. The blond woman nods.

"She hasn't eaten in days," the black woman adds, "none of us have." Jenner looks around to all of us and tells us to follow him. He gets together bunches of food, drinks, eating utensils. He puts it all up on a very long table. I am smiling and laughing sitting in between an old man and a black man. Our laughter is contagious, spreading throughout the table as the old man pours a glass of wine for Lori.

"You know in Italy," the old man says, "children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France."

"Well," Lori laughs, "when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then."

"What's it gonna hurt," Rick asks, smiling, "come on." Lori gives him a 'mom' look. "Come on. What?" Laughter bursts out around the table. Lori gives in and me and the black man give a small toast within our laughter.

"There you are, young lad," the old man says, handing Carl a glass of wine. The table becomes quiet in anticipation. Shane glances at me and smiles. Rick laughs at Carl's disgusted face. Carl lets out an exclamation of disgust and we all burst into rounds of laughter.

"That's my boy," Lori says, "that's my boy. Good boy." She pours the wine into her glass and looks from me to Cyanne, sitting on the other side of the table.

"That tastes nasty," Carl mumbles. I laugh even harder.

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud," Shane states. I smile.

"Not you, Glenn," the redneck growls to the Asian who is apparently named Glenn.

"What," Glenn asks, obviously tipsy.

"Keep drinkin', little man," the redneck laughs, "I wanna see how red yer face can git." I giggle at the comment as the table bursts into yet another round of laughter.

"Excuse me," Lori says. Everyone looks at her. "I just thought that it might be nice if our two newest members of the group actually got to know us all, or at least our names." I can feel heat rising up on my face as people start to stare at me. "So, this one is Avery, Shane's little sis." Lori gestures to me, smiling. "And that one is Cyanne, Avery's friend." Lori gestures over to Cyanne, who seems to be just basking in the new found attention.

"Right," Rick clears his throat, "so... aw hell, you two already know me, Carl, Lori, and Shane." I nod and glance at Carl.

"You remember me, buddy," I ask. He shakes his head and I give a joking glare at Rick and Lori, "you haven't told him 'bout me? I feel so left out now, considerin' I was pretty much little Carl's best friend when he was younger."  
"I beg to differ," Cyanne giggles, slightly drunk. Such a lightweight. "I held that title, and I still should." Carl looks slightly uncomfortable as two women fight over him, so we move on.

"I'm Dale," the old man smiles. I give his hand a slight shake and a warm smile.

"T-Dog," the black man states, shaking my hand. I keep my smile steady.

"Name's Daryl," the redneck says from behind me. I stick my hand over my head and I feel him shake it, snickering.

"Andrea," the pretty blond lady smiles, shaking my hand over T-Dog's head.

"Jacqui," the black lady says, smiling.

"Carol," the mother of Sophia states warmly, "you already know Sophia." With that, we had gotten through the group and a glass was clinking.

"Glenn," the Asian smiles warmly at me. I've always liked Asians. I can hear a tapping of a glass and I turn to see Rick standing up.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly," Rick states.

"He is more then just our host," T-Dog smiles, lifting up his glass. The table explodes with shouts of gratitude and 'hear, hears'. Everyone smiles and toasts to Jenner.

"Booyah," Daryl exclaims and everyone follows sweet, a round of 'booyah's' circling the table. There are laughs and more smiles. _God, what a good night to be welcomed into the group, just won't last long._

"So you gonna be sleeping with anyone tonight, Avery," Shane asks nonchalantly and I choke on my wine.

"Excuse me," I ask, shocked.

"You heard me," Shane says.

"No, Shane," I growl, "it's just me."

"Shocking," Shane states. He's doing this just to bug me.

"Not really considering you slept with almost every single girl in our high school," I say, trying to keep a steady tone. I can hear a few snickers spouting out around me.

"Yeah, not you, though," Shane says into his drink. I yet again choke on my wine.

"No, not me, Shane," I snarl, my words like venom, "because that, sweetie, is called incest, which, funny enough, is illegal! Even if it were not illegal, there would be no chance in hell I would ever go near you."

"You would've liked it," Shane whispers. I throw a bread roll at his face and stand up to leave the table. Laughter surrounds me and I can feel myself yet again blushing.

"So when you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc," Shane asks. I stop in my tracks. I want to hear this. "All the, uh, the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebratin', Shane," Rick growls, "don't need to do this now." I nod in agreement.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right," Shane states, "this was your move. Supposed to-ya know-find all the answers. Instead we-" Shane laughs. What the hell is going on with him. "we, uh, we found him!" He jabs his thumb towards Dr. Jenner and laughs again. "Found one man. Why?"

"Well, when things got bad," Jenner explains, "a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one," Shane asks.

"Many couldn't face walking out the door," Jenner states, "they... opted out. There was a rash of suicides." I turn around to look at anything in the room but Jenner. Anything to block out the horrors he had witnessed. "That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave," Andrea states, "why?"

"I just kept working," Jenner says. _Jesus, the best example of a workaholic ever._ "hoping to do some good."

"Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man," Glenn says, glaring at Shane. I turn back around and look at the people at the table. Right back to the disheveled group they were when Cyanne and I first found them.

"Well, um, look," I start out crappy, "Dr. Jenner, do you have anywhere where we could sleep. I'm pretty sure they've had just as rough a time as Cyanne and I have and we all could use some well needed sleep."

"Right this way," Dr. Jenner says, nodding. He leads us down a hallway. "Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just, don't plug in the video games, okay." The kids nod. "Or anything that draws power. The same applies, if you shower go easy on the hot water."

Glenn turns around and smiles. "Hot water?"

"That's what the man said," T-Dog laughs. I can't help but smile. We all go off and grab some rooms. Cyanne and I are put in the same room, just like back at the college. It's so surreal, being safe again. Both of us toss our things onto the floor and head to the bathroom, just to make sure it's there.

"You go first," Cyanne says. I smile and shake my head.

"No, you go," I say, "I told you a while ago that the next thing we did you got to go first. You're just lucky it's something nice." Cyanne laughs and jumps up and down. I walk out of the bathroom and down the hall. I can hear water running and people shouting and cheering with joy.

I sit down near the end of the hall and smile to myself. _I can't believe I'm here, with my brother and best friend. A group and we're still alive. Life has been difficult, a difficult struggle for everything good. I feel as though I can finally rest and relax, for once since this hell started._

After a while, I see Cyanne walk out in a towel that's wrapped around her body. There's another towel in her hair and she smiles at me nodding. I stand up and see Rick walk out. He looks down the hall at Cyanne, rubs his eyes, stares for a while longer and walks back into his room. I laugh a bit and walk past Cyanne.

I strip my clothes off, unsticking them and letting the fabric fall to the floor. I step into the shower and turn the water on. The feeling of water on my skin is intoxicating. I am filled with a newfound glee. The water rushing down my skin. Muddy puddles of water pool at my feet before going down the drain. That's when I realize that I must have looked like shit while with the group. I want to finish my shower quickly before the water starts to run out. I turn the knobs and the water stops flowing.

I step out of the shower and glance at myself in the mirror before looking away. _Put clothes on first._ I grab my extra large jean shirt and some shorts. I walk back to the mirror and look at my face. My hair is a tangled wet mess, with a braid down one side. My face is skinnier. Everything just reminds me what's going on.

I decide to find Shane so I walk out into the hallway. As I walk down, Carol passes me with Sophia and Carl. Carol smiles and nods while the kids giggle. I smile back and keep walking. I hear a door close behind me, and I know that Carol is putting the kids to bed. I can hear shouting coming from the Rec Room so I walk faster, sneaking down the hallway. I open the door to see Lori pressed in between Shane and a pool table. Shane's... trying to rape her. I'm not sure what to do. I see Lori scratch Shane and he backs away. I lean to the side and Lori rushes past me, only looking at me for a few seconds before running, crying down the hallway. I burst into the room, glaring at Shane.

"What in the fucking hell was that," I whisper shout, "you son of a bitch. What the fuck were you thinking?! She has a _husband_ and a _child_ and for some reason you're trying to rape her? You're acting like Dad!"

"Dad never did anything like that," Shane mutters.

"Maybe not trying to rape someone. But he sure as hell deserved to burn slowly in hell, and that's exactly how you're turning out!"

"Don't you dare talk about Dad that way." Shane shoves a finger at my chest in drunken fury, and it hurts.

"Are you shitting me? Do you just not remember what he'd like to do to me every day when he got home? Grabbing the yard stick and shoving me onto a table before he would smack me so hard with that fucking wooden board that I couldn't feel anything? That I was screaming as blood poured down my back? As you stood there watching, not doing anything because as long as you didn't intrude, you would stay dearest Daddy's favorite? Do you need a reminder, because I can sure as hell show you my scars. So don't you dare, you bastard. Don't you dare tell me to be nice when I talk about Dad because that man deserved to die in so much worse of a way I can't even describe it." I could feel tears brimming, threatening to spill over.

"I didn't mean it that way-" I cut him off.

"What the hell were you even trying? What were you thinking? Rick's your friend! I mean... unless, when did he come back to the group? You must've been with her because you though he was dead... now he's back... God damn it, Shane! Leave Lori alone, or else I swear to God, I don't care if I die in hell and burn for the rest of my life, I will ruin you." I hear someone clear their throat and I whirl around to see a drunken Daryl standing in the doorway. Shane stumbles past me and Daryl and grumbles down the hallway.

"I heard shouting, an' I thought I should'a make sure it was m'kay." Daryl says, his words slurred.

"That's alright," I sigh, "c'mon, we should get you to bed or else you're gonna pass out on the floor right here." Daryl draws a laugh out of his mouth. I walk over to him and he puts an arm around my shoulder. We walk over to what I presume is his room and I push open the door. We walk over to his bed and I help him fall onto his bed. I feel a tug on my arm as he falls and before I know it, I'm laying on top of Daryl.

"What the hell, Daryl?" I feel rough and sloppy lips push against mine. Maybe it's because of my slightly too high alcohol levels, maybe it's because of my anger, but I keep the kiss going. I want, no, need this. God it felt good. I pushed my arms around his neck. His fingers play with the waist of my shorts and I feel them start to work at the button. I moan, pleasure surrounding my senses.

Maybe the moan woke me up, but my eyes open and I pull away. Daryl does the same. I climb off of him and I straighten out my clothes and hair before I walk out of the room, trying not to acknowledge what had just happened. I walk straight to my room, where Cyanne is already asleep on the couch. I lay down on the floor and let myself silently cry. Cry for everything that has happened. Cry for the first time in months. Before I know it, I forget what I am crying about. It's just that everything that has happened hit me, and I cry.


	4. Chapter 4

***Hides behind wall of absolute shame...**

**That is me... trying my hardest to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take this long, but first my laptop needed updating, and then it broke down and flipped out. Thankfully, nothing major was deleted. I understand that most of you... probably more like all of you, hate my guts. Don't kill me, please. I'M GETTING ON WITH THE STORY, I PROMISE! Okay, so, now that my sobbing apology is done, I will let you read the story.**

**_It's Time- Imagine Dragons_**

**PREVIOUSLY ON CHANGING MINDS:**

_ "What the hell, Daryl?" I feel rough and sloppy lips push against mine. Maybe it's because of my slightly too high alcohol levels, maybe it's because of my anger, but I keep the kiss going. I want, no, need this. God it felt good. I pushed my arms around his neck. His fingers play with the waist of my shorts and I feel them start to work at the button. I moan, pleasure surrounding my senses._

**_ Maybe the moan woke me up, but my eyes open and I pull away. Daryl does the same. I climb off of him and I straighten out my clothes and hair before I walk out of the room, trying not to acknowledge what had just happened. I walk straight to my room, where Cyanne is already asleep on the couch. I lay down on the floor and let myself silently cry. Cry for everything that has happened. Cry for the first time in months. Before I know it, I forget what I am crying about. It's just that everything that has happened hit me, and I cry._**

******I wake up the next morning with a new goal, to avoid Daryl at all times possible and try not to make contact with Shane, either. Getting dressed, I wake up Cyanne, who quickly proceeds to smack me across the face with a pillow, which does not help my raging headache. Dragging her out of bed I pull her up and lean her against the wall.**

** "I swear to fucking God, Cyanne," I growl, "If you aren't dressed in the next ten minutes, I will pull you out of this room and throw you though one of the windows so you can fight the Jerry's half fucking naked."**

** "Fine," Cyanne mumbles and rubs her eyes, "don't have to be such a bitch about it." I roll my eyes and walk down the hallway to where we ate last night, assuming we would be eating in the same place this morning.**

** I walk in and grab some orange juice and a bowl of cereal. Looking around, Lori tries to avoid my gaze. I understand completely. I would never bring something like that up unless I knew for a fact that Shane could be a serious threat. And I can't even believe I'm saying that about my own brother.**

** "Eggs," T-Dog states, shaking me out of my thoughts, "powdered, but- but I do 'em good." Poor Glen is moaning in pain as Jacqui hugs him. "I betcha can't tell. Protein helps the hangover." Glen moans some more and I rub my temples in pain.**

** "Where'd all this come from," Rick asks, holding up something but I honestly could care less.**

** "Jenner," Lori answers.**

** "Could you help me, please," Rick asks.**

** "He thought we could use it," Lori states and I look up to see a bottle of pills, most likely to help with the hangover. T-Dog sets some eggs on my plate and smiles at me.**

** "Thank you," Rick smiles.**

** "Some of us, at least," Lori looks over at Glenn who looks like he's about to be sick.**

** "Don't ever ever ever let me drink again," Glenn moans and I smirk. At least my hangover's not that bad. Shane walks in and I loose all sense of any other person. My bowl of cereal and eggs looks ****very interesting now.**

** "Hey," Shane says.**

** "Hey," Rick answers. Shane walks over and pats me on the shoulder and I get a sudden urge to see how many pieces of the bowl would stick in his face if I threw it at him. More people are slowly filling up the table and Cyanne finally comes in, sitting in between Carl and I.**

** "Feel as bad as I do," Rick asks Shane, who is getting himself some coffee.**

** "Worse," Shane adds. ****_Damn straight you feel worse, and I can make you feel a lot more 'worse' if I cut off an essential piece of you're male body._**

** "The hell happened to you," T-Dog asks Shane, looking at the scratches on his neck. "Your neck?"**

** "I must have done it in my sleep," Shane says. Yet again I have a sudden urge to inflict as much pain in him as humanly possible.**

** "Never seen ya do that before," Rick adds. ****_Good job with the shitty lie, Shane._**

** "Me neither," Shane states, "not like me at all." Shane looks at Lori and I growl into my orange juice.**

** "Mornin'," Jenner greets us, walking in to get himself some food.**

** "Hey, Doc," Shane says and starts a round of answers to the greeting.**

** "Doctor," Dale starts, "I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-"**

** "But you will anyway," Jenner states.**

** "We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea snarls, most likely a bit harsher then she had meant it to be. Jenner turns around to look at everyone but my focus is drawn to the person who decided to sit right fucking next to me. ****_Daryl._**** He gets up to grab some food for himself and refuses to meet my eye. I can feel a sensation start in my stomach that makes me want to run out of there and puke my guts out, but I swallow it down with another scoop of cereal.**

** "Alright," Jenner says, "after everyone finishes, meet me down in the big room." With that he walks off, food and coffee in hand. Since Jenner is gone, I have no other focus point in my brain except Daryl, and as soon as he turns around to sit down, we catch each others eye. ****_Fuck._**** He nods, acknowledging my presence and basically telling me that he remembers what happened last night. Sooner or later we're going to have to talk about it, I just hope I can put that off for a while. He sits back down and before I know it, we're all walking to the Big Room to find answers from Jenner.**

** Jenner sees us and looks down at his computer. "Give me a playback of TS-19."**

** "Playback of TS-19," Vi states, the metallic voice making me shudder. There is a loading symbol on the giant screen in front of us and I stand one row of computers back, leaning against the top of one of the monitors. I feel someone brush past me, a bit to close to my ass for my liking. It's Daryl. Of course it's fucking Daryl. I barely even know the guy and he's teasing me. Bastard. He doesn't even acknowledge the fact that I'm right next to him as he stares at the screen in front of us.**

** Soon, a list of random things appear on the giant screen and then another loading symbol. Scans of brains and skull structures light up the left side of the screen, while the other side is still loading.**

** "Few people ever got a chance to see this," Jenner states, "very few." The right side of the screen shows a face and then it quickly regresses to show a human brain resting inside a skull.**

** "Is that a brain," Carl asks.**

** "An extraordinary one," Jenner leans in to tell Carl, "not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V.." Shane swaggers up on the left side of Jenner and Cyanne. Daryl shifts slightly closer to me and I shiver for absolutely no damn reason. The screen zooms out and then the brain person is the main thing on the screen.**

** "Enhanced internal view," Vi states. The screen shifts so that the see through body of the person is laying down. It focuses in on the brain which is pulsing with the many nerves. Zooming through the brain, the screen focuses on the brain stem, which then zooms in more to focus on nerves and systems running through the brain stem. It almost seems surrealistic, like a ship moving through the brain. All ****focus is on the screen in front of us.**

** "What're those lights," Shane asks in wonder and I look over to him. These are the times when I can't hate him, when he seems to look like a kid again.**

** Jenner opens his mouth to answer, but I didn't go to college for nothing. "It's a person's life," I answer, much to the surprise of everyone around me, "experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique, and human."**

** "You don't make sense ever," Daryl asks me and I roll my eyes.**

** "Those are synapses," Jenner takes over my rant about life, "electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death. But I'm guessing you knew that, Avery."**

** "Yes, I studied forensic anthropology," I smile at Jenner, who nods, "I know a good bit about how the brain works."**

** "Death," Rick asks, impatiently, "that's what this is, a vigil?"**

** "Yes," Jenner answers, "or r-rather the playback of the vigil."**

** "This person died," Andrea asks, and she seems heartbroken, "who?"**

** "Test subject 19," Jenner says, "someone who was bitten and infected... and volunteered to have us record the process. Vi, scan forward to the first event."**

** "Scanning to first event," the computer obliges the order. There's a light beeping as the screen fast-forwards. As the fast-forward stops, it lands of a picture of something black that seems to be attacking the brain.**

** "Is the black the virus," I ask and Jenner nods, "but it looks like a tumor or-or a parasite. Only thing is, I've never seen one do that before."**

** "It invades the brain like Meningitis," Jenner explains, "the Adrenal Glands Hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." The black spreads and then all of a sudden, it takes over the brain, turning the whole brain cavity dark. The person stops moving. "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be... gone."**

** "Is that what happened to Jim," Sophia asks and a breath catches in my throat. I have no idea who Jim is but all I can think about is how much these two kids have been through.**

** "Yes," Carol bluntly answers. There's a moment of silence and I see everyone seeming to mourn over lost ones. Cyanne and I have our own to mourn. We had to jump out of a two story window because our dorm building had been overrun with our friends. Andrea is crying.**

** "She lost somebody two days ago," Lori says, "her sister." I look down at the floor and draw a shaky breath. The things these people have been through, it kills me. They're such nice people and... it's just difficult.**

** "I lost somebody too," Jenner empathizes, "I know how devastating it is. Scan to the second event."**

** "Scanning to second event," Vi answers.**

** "The resurrection times vary wildly," Jenner states. The screen is fast-forwarding once again. "We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute... seven seconds." On the screen we are all looking at the same picture as before, except now, there's a red sparking at the base of the brain stem. It starts to take over, sparking in other places. Almost pulsing.**

** "It restarts the brain," Lori asks.**

** "No, just the brain stem," Jenner replies. "Basically it gets them up and moving."**

** "But they're not alive," Rick asks.**

** "You tell me," Jenner points to the screen.**

** "It's nothin' like before," Rick states. "Most of that brain is dark."**

** "Dark, lifeless, dead," Jenner adds, "the Frontal Lobe, the Neocortex, the human part- that ****doesn't come back. The ****_you_**** part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct." The patient on screen starts moving. I can see the tip of a gun appear on screen and put a bullet through the brain of the patient.**

** "God," Carol exclaims, "what was that?"**

** "He shot his patient in the head," Andrea simply says, "didn't you?"**

** "Vi, power down the main screen and the work stations," Jenner orders.**

** "Powering down main screen and work stations," Vi answers. Daryl glances at me before looking to Jenner.**

** "You have no idea what it is, do you," Andrea asks.**

** "It could be microbial," Jenner says, "viral, parasitic, fungal."**

** "Or the wrath of God," Jacqui adds.**

** "There is that," Jenner looks around.**

** "Somebody must know something," Andrea growls, "somebody, somewhere."**

** "There are others, right," Carol asks, "other facilities?"**

** "There may be some," Jenner tries to keep his patience, "people like me."**

** "But you don't know," Rick snarls, "how can you not know?"**

** "Everything went down," Jenner explains, "communications, directives- all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."**

** "So it's not just here," Andrea states.**

** "No," Cyanne sighs, "I mean, me and Avery drove all the way down the West Coast, we couldn't find a single clean place."**

** "There's nothing left anywhere," Andrea's voice gives a shade of panic, "nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" She scoffs.**

** "Jesus," Jacqui whispers.**

** "Man," Daryl adds, putting his head in his hands, "I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again."**

** "I second that notion," I whisper. Daryl gives me a strange look and I quirk an eyebrow at him.**

** "Dr. Jenner," Dale tries to keep the hopes of the group up, "I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question but... that clock- it's counting down. What happens at zero?" All attention has turned to the clock or Jenner.**

** "The basement generators- they run out of fuel," Jenner explains. I can feel panic rising and threatening to bubble over my pissed off outer layer.**

** "And then," Rick asks. Jenner starts walking off. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick is looking up expectantly.**

** "When the power runs out," Vi answers, "facility-wide decontamination will occur." And that is the one answer I never wanted to hear.**

******REVIEW! PLEASE! I hope you all liked this chapter. I know it was long, but I just felt like I needed to make up for the long time of not updating.**


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